Aging & Society: Eighth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Many countries are experiencing significant changes in relation to aged care services. As populations age, we see an increased in chronic and complex illness and disability and greater expectations about the types of services that should be delivered and outcomes achieved. At the same time, aged care services are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit an appropriate workforce. Advances in technology have offered a potential solution to these twin demand and supply-side pressures through the development of robotics. In this paper we report on an Australian study exploring the ways in which robots are being used in aged care services. Although there is a burgeoning literature in this area, the majority of the commentary and evidence tends to revolve around their technical efficacy, their acceptability to older people, or the legal ramifications of such innovations. There remains a serious lack of attention within the public policy and public management literature to the actual implementation of robots in care settings. This study explores the roles that robots should and, even more critically, should not play in care delivery and the role that government has as a steward in shaping these roles.